Transmission-gearing.



H. A, RHODES.

TRANSMISSION BEARING. APPLICATION FILED 001218, 1909. 1

994,537. I Patented June 6,1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

H. A. RHODES. TRANSMISSION GEARING. APPLICATION FILED 0011.18, 1909.

994 531 I Patented June 6, 1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

11. A. RHUDES. TRANSMISSION GEABING.

APPLIOATION FILED 0UT.1B, 1909.

Patented June 6,1911.

' 4 sums-sum a.

IHlll H. A. RHODES.

TRANSMISSION GEABING. LPPLIUATIGN nun 00m. 18, 1909.

994,537, Patented June 6,1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4 STATES PATENT OFFICE,

HARRY ar RHODES, or DENVER, COLORADQ, ASSIGNOR To THE NIVERSAL MoToRoomminv, or DENVER, COLORADO, A CORPORATION or ARIZONA TERRITORY.

TRANSMISSION-GEARING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 6, 1911.

Original application filed July 20, 1909, Serial No. 508,654. Dividedand this. application filed October 18, 1909. Serial No. 523,279.

the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Transmission-Gearing; and I dodeclare the following to be a. full, clear, and exact description ofthe. in- ,vention, such aswill enable others skilled n the art to whichit appertains to make and 1 the same, reference being had to theacc'bm'p'anying drawings, and to the letters and fi'guresof referencemarkedthereon, which form apart of this specification- This inventionrelates to improvements in transmission caring, adapted for use withmotorsgenera 1y, butinore especially applicable for use with electricmotors, a division of in? co-pending'a plication for-patent on an e tricmotor, erial- No. 508,654,'filed J uly.20, 1909r 'Most electric motorsrun at high speed, thus reducing the constructioniweight and allowing a:high efiiciency. F or practical use however, the motor speed must begeared I down to a considerable extent The means.

employed to accom lish this speed reductionheretofore, so ar as'I amaware, have been very complicated, in order to reduce the loss-of powerto a minimunmf'ln other .cas'es the speed reduction has been attained bydisreglarding the loss of eflicienc in the.

motor. he construction employe in the -firs tcase, however, has provedunsatistactor; for ,practicaluse, on, account of the many complicationsconnected therewith, which endan r the" working of the power 'prBducer,an the second form of construction" is at resent generally used wherever40 speedIreguatiQn is necessary. It is well known that by using suchmeans asto decrease the efliciency of the motor, the resulting loss ofpower is very high. It 1sobvious therefore, that the pr ce per H. P.111' workaccomplished.

such cases is quite out of proportion to the V The object of my presentinvention is to provide means for regulating and revers- .-the' movementof any motor w thout tainthe: same ci eiic of the'motor all the time;This is accomp is'hedby causing both w i 'fmeinbe'rs.of the motor to'rotate in oppo-s losmg'n uchpgger in gearing, and still r'e-- sitedirections and-introducing a third member, to which the reduced speed ordiflerential is communicated, the third member be ing connected to dowork of any desired character. The regulation of speed is accoinplishedby varying the relative-speed oi the two motor membcrs paseach rotatingmenrber has a certainit'inetic energy, I pro vid'et'means to transferthis energy from the member. If Idesire to slow down in speed to theother member, it is obvious that the last named member, if given anopporits opposingor attracting tendency, begin .to revolve, until itreaches its maximum speed.' By letting the other member rotate also, wedistribute this speed maximum between the two members, that is, inaccordance with their kinetic energy.-

If we assume that two members'are rotating around the same center, andballs, rollers or gears are interposed between them and mounted on athird member, as long as the individual peripheral speeds of the twofirst, namedmembers are equal, these balls,

-The' least difference in peripheral speed of the two members however,must result in imparting. travel tothe third member, upon which therollers or gears are mounted, the

said travel-being proportional to the difi'erential'por difierence inspeed between the two rotating'motor members. It follows that thegreater the diflerence in speed between the two motor members the fasterthe, third as: y

member will rotate, until it reaches its maxi- 'mum speed, when one' :ofthe two motor members reaches zero speed.

By applying a speed reducing or ;regu1ating device'to the-two m'otormembers, it ;will

be understood that the speed of-lhe'two members may be so regulated thatwhen either member is at zero speed, the other member will be at itsmaximum speed, thus resulting in imparting the maximum speed to thethird member, in one direction, or the other as may be desired. 1

By changing the relative speed of the two motor membersit is obviousthere is no such loss of etliciency as there is Whenever the speedregulation is accom lished through means which decrease the e ciency ofthe motor to approximately the same extent as the speed is reduced. Asan examle of the last named method of speedreguation, I will callattention to the introduction of resistance into the motorcircuit. It isalso obvious that the speed regulation employed in my improvedconstruction acts smoothly and Without any shock whatever to themechanism. Another feature is the reversibility of my improvedconstruction, whereby the third member may be caused to change'itsdirectionof movement without any loss of kinetic energy in the motor,thus protecting the latter to a great extent. Furthermore the kineticenergy of the motor itself will have a tendency to follow the'regulationin the quickest: possibletime, as my regulating mechanism is based onthe principle of transferring kinetic energy from one rota-ting body toanother.

From what has been stated, it will be understood'thatby virtue of myimproved construction, the speed imparted to the device to be operatedby the motor,'may beas slow as of the two motor members, since no matterhow fast the two members are rotating, by

means of my improved speed regulator, any

desired differential between the speeds of the two members may bemainta1ne'd, thus giving the same result so far as speed is concerned,as the interposition of speed re-,

ducing gears between themotor and the device 'to be "operated thereby,but at the same time avo ding the frictional loss of power due to theuse of such gearing. If we ,assume that the two motor members aretraveling atthe Same peripheral speed, and

aroller be interposed between fthem, the

two motorflmembers rotating in opposite directions, it-is evident thatthe action of theone' member 'upon the roller will exactly neutralizethe action of the other member upon the roller, whereby the latter is mvented from'orbital travel, though of course rotating upon itsindividual axis. In'order;

that this may betrue, it must be understoo d that there is adistinctionbetween-peripheral travel and travelmeasured in revolutions,'- for instance, if" the peripheral face of the one member of themotor which engages the roller, is of grea r circumference than thecorresponding face of the other manor-member. will be understood thatesired, regardless of the speed are separate the member having thesmaller circumference must travel more than a singlerevolution in orderto keep up with and neutralize the action of the member havin the largerperipheral face. By way of lllustration we may assume that thecircumference of the larger member is 30 inches, while the circumferenceof the smaller member is 20 inches. Now it will be understood that inorder for the action of the smaller member to neutralize the action ofthe larger member to prevent the orbital travel of an interposed roller,tlie smaller membermust make 15 revolutions while the larger member ismaking a single revolution. Hence whenever the term equal speed isemployed in this specification, peripheral speed will be understood asdistinguished from speed measured in revolutions.

Having briefly outlined my improved construction of motor, a s'iwell asthe principle upon which it operates'fl will proceed to describe thesame in detail, reference being made to the aecompanyii'ig drawing, inwhich is illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In this drawing: Figure -1 is an elevation of a motor equipped with myimprovements. Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section of the left handside of the same. Fig. 3 is a similar section. of the right hand side ofthe construction shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a central vertical sectionof the central part of said construction, the parts being. shown on alarger scale.

'The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate the armature member of the motor, and 6 thefield member 'tl'fereof. It must be understood however that these termsare applied to these members for convenience only,and in order todistinguish the one member from the other. It ma also be stated that inorder-to carry out t e principle ofmy improved construction, itwis notnecessary that the two motormembers moving in opposite directions shallnecessarily maintain such archthe armature. 1 I :It may be stated thatso far as the general construction of the moton which I employ isconcerned, it may be ofaiiv ordinary manufacture except that the twomembers, for convenience designatedthe armature memher and thefield'member, must both be permitted to revolve, and the polarity of thecurrent supplied to thenrmust be so regulated that-the two members willrotate in opposite-directions. The relative speed of the two memberswill, of course, be determined by their 'relative'mas's. it-y, 7, of the-casing orfiel'd member of the One extremmotor', is sup lied with rings8 and 9, which d from the part by insulating '.tion. to each other thatone may always be 'properly termed the field and theother rent.

material 10. The current from the generator (not shown) is supplied tothese rings and conductors 12 and 13, mounted in the unotor, lead fromthe rings 8 and 9 respectively, to the brushes 14c and 15, whichengagethe commutator 16, through which' the armature member 5 is supplied withcur-.

supplied with current throu h the conductors 17 and 17", which areelectrically connected with ,the conductors 12 and 13, see

7 ne'. extremity of the armature shaft 18,

journaled in a holder 27, the latter being trunnioned upon a bracket 29,connected withthe stationary sleeve 21 of the motor,

by means of a screw pin 30, passing through.

a slot 31, formed in the said sleeve. This pin 30 is connected with arod 32, threaded in a cap "33, journaled on the outer'extremity of'thesleeve 21, and formed integral with an operating wheel 34. As the rod 32is prevented from rotatin may be caused to travel longitudinally withinthe sleeve 21, by rotating the wheel 24 and the cap 33, thus changingthe relative position of the bracket 29, upon "which the holder 27 ismounted. This holder 27 also carries a second cone-shaped member 25",mounted and made fast upon the spindle 26, the latter being journaled inthe, frame or holder 27, asjust explained.

' As shown in the drawing, the two cones 25 and 25', .have their smallerextremities toward the center. As just explained, the periphery of thewheel 20, engages cone 25'wl1ile the field-casing member7 has aninwardly extending flange 35, engaging the cone member 25'. In orderthat the two cone members" may be held in proper operative contact withtheparts 20 and 35, the holder 27 is provided at one end with anextension 36,

whichengages one extremity of a coil spring 37, whose opposite extremityengages an extension 38 of the bracket '29.

Itwill now be understood that the wheel 20, engaging one of the cones,is connected to rotate with the armature member ofthe .motor, while theflange 35, engaging the other cone, is mounted upon and rotates with thefield member of the motor. I will also state that the trunnioned'devicecarryirig the two cones 25 and. 25 a speed V device, whereby any desiredspeed di erential between the two' members of the motor, that-is to saythe field and regulatin armature members, may be maintained. As

illiistrated in the drawing, the circumfer- The coils of the fieldmember are also the rod 1 ences of the wheel 20 and that of the flange35, where it engages the cone 25, are equal.

-Now if we assume that the two members of the motor are traveling atequal speed in opposite directions, it will. be understood that thespeed of either membermay .be re duced, and that of the other memberacceler ated by the adjustment of thespeed regulating device.

so adjusted that the periphery of the wheel 20 and the engaging partofthe flange 35,

both engage the cones 25 and 25', at the center or wherethe said conesare ofequal circumference, the speed of'the two memlJBIS'Wlll remain thesame 1n relation to each other, and'the speed regulating device. willhave no e-fiect. If, however, the speed'regulating device be shiftedtoward the "left, see Fig; 2, by turnin the wheel 34 and thecap 33, sothat the. ange 35 shall engage the smaller extremity of its cone and theperiphery of the wheel 20 shall engage the larger extremity of its cone,the spec of the field For instance ilf this device is member of themotor will be retarded and that of the armature member of the motorcorrespondingly accelerated. Furthermore if we assume that thecircumference of the cone 25, where it engages the wheel 20 is threetimes that of the circumference of the cone 25 where the latter engagesthe flange 35, the result will be that the armature mem ber of the motoris travelingthree t-imes as fast as the field member of the motor. 1

The extremity of the armature shaft remote from its connection with thewheel 20, is keyed to a sleeve 39, as shown at 40, thus connecting thearmature member of the motor with this sleeve. A sleeve 41 is alsoconnected at one extremity with the field member of the motor, by meansof a coneshaped casing member 42,;which is made fast to one end of thecasing or field of the .motor, as shown at 43. The opposite extremity ofthe sleeve 41, is connected by means of a bracket 4.4,"with a bearinring 45, which engages a series of cone-s aped rollers 46, interposedbetween the ring 45 whose inner circumference is tapered outwardlyinopposite directions and an oppos- '11s ing ring .7 of counterpartshape, formed upon the outer-[extremity of the sleeve 39,

connected with the armature member as heretofore explained. a

a All of the rollers 46 of the series anal .20

mounted on spindles 48. a The inner extremities of the spindles 48engage a. ring 49, while their outer extremities are connected with thedetachable head 50, of-a wheel or pulley 51, from which the speeddifferential may be transmitted. to the device or machine to beoperated. In the foregoing descrip tion' it has been assumed that thespeed regulifting device has been so adjusted that the two motor'membersare traveling at difierent' -speeds in the proportion ofv one to three,I

the armature member 'Wlth which the ring 47 is connected, travels threetimes as fast in revolutions, as the field member with which the ringtravels, the peripheral speed of the two rings 45' and 47 will have astill smaller differential, and it is evident V a pedestal sary toreverse the position ot the speed regulator,

that in. order for the speed of the ring 45 traveling in one directionto neutralize the speed of the ring 47, traveling in the oppositedirection, so that there would be no orbital travel of the rollers 46,it would be necessary for the ring 47- to make less than one revolution,while the ring 45 was making a singlecomple'te' revolution. 'In anyevent however, the relative rapid travel of the ring 47 in onedirection, is neutralized to the extent of the travel of the ring 45 inthe opposite direction, and if we should assume thatthe peripheraltravel of the two rings is in the proportion of two to one, thedifferential speed imparted to the pulley 51, would be one ing theregulating device, any desired differential may be delivered to thepulley or wheel 51 and transmitted to any device to be operated. It isevident that the pulley or wheel 51, might be lavehicle wheel ifdesired, or a pulley with connected for transmit ing motion to anymachine or device to' be operated. I The wheel 51 is provided with ahollow journal or sleeve 52 interposed between the sleeve 41 and astationary bearing 53, mounted upon 54, of the frame work. In order toreduce the friction between the bearing 53, the pulley sleeve and 41,ball bearings 55, are employed.

It will be understood from what has.already been stated, that in orderto reverse the travel of the member 51, to which is transmitted thespeed differential between the two motor members, it will only benecesthat is to say referring to Fig. 2, by shifting the latter towardthe right, which may be accomplished by turning the hand wheel 34,whereby the periphery of the wheel 20 will'act upon the smallerextremity of its cone 25, while the flange 55 will act upon the largerextremity of its cone member 25*. In this case the field 1 member of themotor will have the greater half of the speed of the ring 47 From thisit is evident that by adjust-' which a belt may be 52, and the sleeves39- differential speed tain slow speed enginesspeed, and the bearingring 45, with which the lastnamed member is connected will determinethedirection of orbital travel of the rollers 46, and the pulley orwheel member 51. It is evident that int-his case the direction of travelof the member 51 will be the reverse of its travel, when the speed regulating device is in the position shown in Fig. 2. It will thus be seenthat the speed of the member 51, which is determined by the speeddifierent-ial between the two motor members may be determined withperfect accuracy since by the proper adjustment ofthe regulating devicethe speed differential between the two motor members ma be regulated asdesired, and in favor of either member, the member having the greatertravel determining the direction of the rota-' tion of the third member51.

In case it is desired to lock'the-field mem ber of the motor againstrotation, whereby the speed difierential shall be the entire speed ofthe armature member, thus giving the third member the maximumpossiblespeed, any suitable means may be employed. In Fig. 1 of thedrawing, I have illustrated a suitable construction to accomplish thispurpose, the same consisting of two blocks 56, connected by a rod 57,each'block having an upward projection 58, adapted to engage a recessAemployed in the rims 59 forming the exteriorrims of the field member.One ofthese plugs is connected by means of a rod 60, with a hand lever61, fulcrumed at 62. When this lever is thrown to the dotted lineposition in Fig. .1, the locking device is thrown to a correspondingposi- 58 engage the 1 tion, whereby the projections recesses of the-rimsof the field of the motor and lock the latter and its attachmentsagainst rotation.

The mechanism, whereby the speed differ ential of two electric motormembers, rotat- -ing in opposite directions, may bet-ransmitted toathird member, togive the latter any desired slow speed, regardless ofthe velocity of the rotating members of the motor, may be advantageouslyutilized by reversing the operation of the same, when .itis desired tochange the electric motor into a. dynamo orv generator. In this case, itwill only be necessary to connect a slow speed engine with the thirdmember, of the said mechanism; in which event the operation of the motorparts will, of course, be given I the same velocity in oppositedirections, that could be initially imparted when the device is used asa mo-' tor, in order to produce a corresponding difi'erential slow speedin the third member. This construction. will, therefore, overcome adifficulty heretofore experienced, :viz: that it has been foundimpossible to employ cerfor generatingelec- .tricity, since the maximumspeed at wh'ch it is practicable to run these engines, is not'sufiicient for electrical generating purposes directions, means forvarying the speed of p the said members and two cone shaped membersmovably mounted to receive the differential speed from said members.

3. The combination of two members mounted and connected to rotate inoppo site directions, means for varying the speed. of the two members"comprising a bracket adjustably' mounted, and a spindle equipped withcone members mounted to rotate therewith and constructed to accomplishthe aforesaid function;

4. The combination of two members mounted to rotate in CQ'JPOSitQdirections and a speedregulating device adjustably mounted and composedof a spindle and two coneshaped men'ibers fast thereon, and arranged inreverse order to engage parts of the said members,

5. The combination of two members mounted to rotate, in oppositedirections, two conoshaped members arranged in re verse order to engagethe parts of said members for regulating the relative speed of the' twomembers to produce any desired differential speed in favor of eithermember, a third member interposed'between the parts of the first namedmembers, the third member being free to rotate on its individual axisand to travel in a predetermined orbit, the arrangement being such thatthe first named members cooperate to impart rotation to the third memberon its individual axis while they act in opposition. to each other inimparting orbital travel.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature I in presence of twowitn'mses.

4 HARRY A. RHODES. Witnesses:

Jnssm HOBART, A. :EBERT OBRIEN.

